Brazil court rejects new Bolsonaro appeal against coup conviction

BRASILIA: A Brazilian Supreme Court judge on Friday rejected a fresh appeal by jailed former president Jair Bolsonaro against his coup conviction, declaring it inadmissible, according to a court document seen by AFP.

Bolsonaro, 70, began serving a 27-year sentence in November after the country’s highest court declared he had exhausted all appeals.

Nevertheless, his attorneys filed an appeal on the merits of the case three days after he was jailed.

Bolsonaro’s earlier failed legal effort targeted “ambiguities, omissions, and contradictions” in the trial.

Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw the trial against Bolsonaro, said he did not recognize the fresh appeal, which requires two judges to have voted against a conviction.

Only one of five judges on the Supreme Court panel voted not to convict Bolsonaro.

The far-right firebrand, in office from 2019 to 2022, was found guilty of having led a scheme to prevent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after Bolsonaro’s failed re-election bid.

He has maintained his innocence, declaring he was a victim of political persecution.

The conservative-controlled Congress this week passed a law that could reduce Bolsonaro’s sentence to just over two years.

Lula has vowed to veto the law, however Congress has the last word and can override him.

On Friday, in response to a request from Bolsonaro’s lawyers, the Supreme Court authorized his transfer to a hospital in Brasilia for surgery to treat recurring hiccups and an inguinal hernia.

Earlier Friday, police said in a statement that an official medical exam confirmed Bolsonaro has a hernia “that requires elective surgical repair.”

According to the statement, medical experts recommended the procedures take place “as soon as possible” due to the impact of Bolsonaro’s health issues on his sleep and eating habits, and an “increased risk of complications from the hernia.”

Bolsonaro has a history of abdominal issues after being stabbed during his 2018 election campaign, and has required several follow-up surgeries.

His lawyers have also requested Bolsonaro be allowed to serve his sentence under house arrest for health reasons, but Moraes rejected that request Friday.

Bolsonaro had been under house arrest until shortly before the official start of his jail term, when he was detained after he took a soldering iron to his ankle monitoring bracelet in what the court saw as an escape attempt.

The former president said he was acting under medication-induced paranoia.